The Fifth Age
by Eponine3
Summary: ::Rated PG for swearing after chapter 1:: The Ring may have been destroyed when it was cast into Mount Doom, but the evil contained in it can never be... A modern day story, with original characters. Legolas and Elrond make short appearances, and no one f


The Fifth Age  
  
Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings, its ideas and characters, all belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, or whoever's gotten hold of it now. All other characters are mine.  
  
  
  
  
  
I used to dream about flying. Not anymore, though. I've had my fill of flying.  
  
  
  
Terror  
  
  
  
"What's up?" Jared, Six-Foot Aussie-Wonder Wannabe, asked me as we walked the upper floor of our high school aimlessly.  
  
"Although I'm running out of cynical responses, I'll answer this one last time. My IQ."  
  
He laughed.  
  
"I was being serious."  
  
Apart from being the only one who understood my sorry attempts at humor, and actually laughed, Jared Kiner was my best friend. No, we were not going out. No, we had never gone out. No, we didn't at all plan on going out. No, we have never in our time as friends, made out.  
  
I believe that clears up most of the usual questions. The others may be telepathically sent to me.  
  
That too was a joke.  
  
Jared was, as his nickname suggested, six feet tall. He had brown eyes, and dirty-blonde hair. He spoke French, a major accomplishment in his eyes. Mine too, but I wasn't that interested in languages. He was in love with Australia and the desert, as was I. Living at a private school in Missouri, however, severely restricted our dose of cacti and rattlesnakes.  
  
We were Freshmen. He lived at the boys' dorm, and I at the girls'. We weren't outcasts, but we weren't highly regarded in society, mainly because of my humor (or lack thereof) and Jared's habit of slipping 'mate' and 'crikey!' into conversations.  
  
My name is Alexandra Zii. I had wild red hair and green eyes. My wardrobe was mostly black, not because I was gothic, but because I sincerely liked the color. Although some, whom I will not mention at this point in the narrative, would argue otherwise. I generally wore no jewelry or makeup, but today I was wearing, on a thin silver chain, a ring I had found half buried in my backyard the day before.  
  
It was before school, and we had just come from breakfast together, bored and with nothing to do. The biology room was locked and even if it weren't, the snake was shedding and we wouldn't be able to play with her. And the birds had a nasty habit of biting us… We never really did find out why.  
  
"Want to go to the computer lab?" Jared suggested.  
  
"You just want to see if Sarah's there," I accused with a smile. The raven-haired beauty, Sarah Wilson, was constantly on his mind. He was pretty good about it, only mentioning her every half hour or so. I've heard worse.  
  
He shrugged and said nothing, but I could see the faintest of blushes dawning.  
  
"Not really…" I said, "But I'll go if you want to."  
  
"No, that's alright. Maybe the biology lab is open or something, mate."  
  
I rolled my eyes, and he mocked me. Sometimes his fake accent and hastily inserted sayings were too much. "Yeah. I think I'll go check. See you then?"  
  
"Okay," he said, turning away, eager to see Sarah. Laughing to myself, I headed to the lab. I didn't really expect it to be open, and so it was to my surprise that the doors swung open when I pushed them.  
  
I unslung my forest green backpack onto a blacktopped table and took out my collection of CDs. Thumbing through them, I came to Enya, and chose Watermark. I put the CD into the player and pressed play.  
  
As the music filled the room, I walked over to the gerbils' cages. Mine, the ones I had originally adopted, were Omni and Pietro. They had a cage to themselves, and the five children they had. I took out one of the babies, a female I had named Rogue because of the white strip on her head, and let her run around on the tabletop.  
  
The CD player sang in the background, loud and filling the empty air.  
  
"Cursum perficio.  
  
Verbum sapienti  
  
Cursum perficio.  
  
Verbum sapienti…"  
  
Chanting, the drums strong in the rhythm. I watched Rogue scurry along the tabletop, and began to chant along absentmindedly.  
  
"Cursum perficio…"  
  
I drifted away in my imagination, not thinking of the world I was in. I did not notice the strange heavying around my neck, as if the necklace were tugging downward. I noticed nothing at all.  
  
Suddenly, an intense feeling of despair and utter dread came over me, and I felt as if I could not breathe. I gasped for air, and then something hit me hard in the side and knocked me flying. I crashed into the chairs lined up at the heavy, blacktopped desks. My head slammed against the floor, and my vision blurred. Lights danced in my head, and when I shook it to clear my eyes, stabbing pain shot through. I opened my eyes slowly, my head pounding. Three tall, dark shapes were approaching me. I tried to scramble away, but I only knocked more chairs on top of me. I lay still on the floor, my terror freezing me, as the shapes approached me. I had an idea, a horrific and impossible impression. I murmured, "Nazgul…" The utterance seemed to give me strength, and I managed to scramble back a few feet, ignoring the crashes as chairs tumbled around me, 'Cursum, Perficio' pounding in the background.  
  
As I tried to stand, my assailants nearly only a meter away, something gripped my arm around the bicep. I looked down. The hand was clad in a metallic glove, and the feeling of dread nearly overwhelmed me. My head swam; I was on the verge of unconsciousness. I screamed, if only to wake myself up, but whether I made no sound or my hearing was gone, there was nothing. Another hand gripped my other arm. I tried to jerk away, but I was weak, and the thing was so strong. The other three drew long, silver swords in a smooth movement, all at once. The hiss of steel was like the call of death. The necklace around my neck grew heavier still. I struggled feebly against the iron grip of what could be nothing else but a Ringwraith. The Nazgul in front drew his blade back, preparing to strike, and I screamed weakly.  
  
"STOP!!" a familiar voice cried from what seemed like very far away. The Ringwraith holding me suddenly let me fall. Someone was yelling, and the terror was fading slightly. As I fell, my head hit the edge of a desk. Darkness clouded my mind, and I lost consciousness finally.  
  
  
  
I hope you like it, please review regardless! Flames will be used to burn whatever's handy! *^.^* I got the idea for this sitting in French class… I get a lot of stories from French, which is probably why I don't really know any of the language… 0.0 


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